Artropolis, a City-wide Celebration of the Arts, Culture & Antiques Opens in Chicago in May

CHICAGO, IL.- Three shows running concurrently at The Merchandise Mart will anchor a city-wide celebration of arts, antiques and culture called Artropolis, May 1  4, 2009.

ART CHICAGO®
The centerpiece of the weekend will be Art Chicago, the international fair of contemporary and modern art. Presenting a fresh-slate of exhibitions, call-out panels and 110 leading galleries from around the globe, Art Chicago 2009 will be the 29th edition of an art fair in Chicago.

Presenting curators, collectors and art enthusiasts a wide-ranging survey beginning with early 20th Century modern masters up through the freshest, most celebrated art of our times, Art Chicago includes works in an endless variety of media, including drawings, prints, sculpture, video and special installations.

With galleries from Spain, Germany, England, Canada, Japan, China, Korea, India and France exhibiting, notes Art Chicago Vice President Tony Karman, Art Chicago 2009 will maintain its international flavor along with highlighting extraordinary work from a strong showing of U.S. and noted Chicago galleries.

Numerous changes to Art Chicago include a concerted effort to ensure the fair experience is more focused, with fewer galleries displaying in more open spaces. The content-rich show will present an engaging and provocative series of panels and presentations called Art Chicago Speaks, featuring 100+ renowned art experts, as well as stand-alone exhibitions thoughtfully curated by some of Chicagos brightest art minds.

Art is the subtext for every decision made for Art Chicago, says Paul Morris, vice president of MMPI Art Shows. To this end, Art Chicago has taken a lead position in emphasizing art education through a docent program and scheduled tours to make the exhibited work accessible to new collectors and developed exhibitions with local curators to engage experienced collectors.

NEXT
NEXT, the critically acclaimed complement fair to Art Chicago, debuted in 2008. The invitational exhibition of emerging art includes works from both commercial and non-commercial art organizations including galleries, project spaces, art publications and key private contemporary collections from around the world.

Organized by critic/curator Christian Viveros-Faune and dealer/art fair organizer Kavi Gupta, NEXT is a unique model for experiencing the best of contemporary art  carving a niche for presenting brilliant if as yet under-known work. Organized for collectors, critics, dealers, artists and enthusiasts, the fair represents the next step in innovative presentation of contemporary art. NEXT is dedicated to placing the newest developments in contemporary art in a truly global context, and will be showing galleries from Antwerp, Dublin, London, Melbourne, Tenerife, among others, as well as galleries from around the United States.

The West Collection of Philadelphia, one of the nations premier collections of emerging art, is dedicated to championing rising talent, and will be presenting 10 promising artists, showing at the fair, with cash prizes.

NEXT will be edgy, smart-looking and responsive to the changing times, states Christian Viveros-Faune. We highlight art over artifice, content rather than flash, and affordability instead of speculation.

THE MERCHANDISE MART INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUES FAIR
The leading exhibition of antiques and fine art in the Midwest, The Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair returns for its 12th year and will unite more than 100 international dealers, allowing enthusiasts to shop an amazing anthology of works ranging from rare antiquities to modern design.

Additionally, The Merchandise Mart International Antiques Fair is proud to announce business magnate and founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Martha Stewart, as their keynote speaker. Stewart will present at 10 a.m. on May 1.

The Fair offers collectors extraordinary finds from the past and the opportunities to learn what makes each object unique and to fill their home with design of a greater meaning, says Lisa Simonian, vice president of marketing at The Merchandise Mart. With first-class events and an outstanding lecture series, the Fair offers something for everybody.

City-wide Celebration / Artropolis
When resurrecting Art Chicago in 2006, explains Merchandise Mart Vice President Mark Falanga, it was important for us to get the input of Chicago gallerists, business, civic and cultural leaders. They resoundingly recommended we invite and foster the participation of Chicagos great cultural institutions. This has added tremendous dimension to the entire experience.

The number of institutions and their involvement has grown; in 2009, 85 cross-discipline cultural organizations throughout the city will participate in Artropolis. From the MCA, the Art Institute, Hyde Park Art Center to dance troupes, organizations are banding together to make this an extraordinary weekend.

This is a city with a spirited commitment to art and architecture, states Chris Kennedy, president of Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI). The cultural institutions have lent us their expertise and their participation. Chicago is, without question, a destination city May 1 - 4.